There's a lot of confusion over the number of undecided voters still out there! So are you still undecided or are you helping out friends or colleagues making a last minute decision on the presidential candidates.'Electoral Compass USA' is used by millions of registered American voters to help them decide between Obama and Mccain. '
Evaluate the candidates and match your political preferences with Obama’s and Mccain policy proposals. Find out which candidates you agree with most on the issues and which candidate you trust most! Have you decided already, the test is fun to take and takes only a few minutes.
Jump with me below the fold for the direct link to take the electoral compass USA test and more,
To get your political profile and independent voteadvice immediately: http://www.electoralcompass.com or http://www.votematchusa.org
Reposted Diary:
If you think polls are skewing the endresults of the election, you haven't seen this!
You have a substantive agreement of 81% witith Barack Obama!
It’s only a couple of more days out to election day on the 4th of November. Early voting is underway in several states and people are turning out in record numbers so far.
Doors are being knocked on, phonecalls made, auctions are being held, bumperstickers bought and yardsigns put up, art created, songs written and candidate cookies baked. All these GOTV efforts by volunteers, teachers, students, activists, churchmembers, unionmembers and Americans from all walks of life have helped both McCain and Obama in uniting the parties behind them and consolidate the Republican and Democratic base. Still there are a important number of undecided and independent voters out there that need some encouragement. Every single vote counts and the stakes are as high as ever!
It will be difficult for either of the two candidates to win this election just by shoring up the traditional base. Undecided voters and Swing voters are crucial in that road to 270 Electoral Votes and beyond. This much is clear however this election will be won on the margins , in Kerry States, in deep red districts, in purple states and in Swingstates.Both McCain and Obama haven’t quite closed the deal with undecided voters; and there are still some voters out there that haven’t made up their mind or are leaning one way or the other but could do with some positive reinforcement, some might even still flip their vote. Although historically very few voters change their mind this late in the election season. With Obama’s current lead in the polls that obviously is good news; but Obama’s strategy is all about bringing out record numbers of voters in as much states as possible. And Republican officials are already purging voters from their list arbitrarily in some sates and there are reports of different strategies to suppress voter turnout. And voteturnout is crucial, as we all know!
The good news is that the number of undecided’s is decreasing: From Pollster.com analysis of the undecided voters a couple of weeks ago:
" an increasing share of the electorate is committing to one of the candidates at this point, and recent history indicates that few are likely to change their minds."
After the debates it’s still unsure where the independents will flock to in the end. Only Last week 10 percent of the electorate was still 'undecided'. For Mccain and Obama to win the race they have to persuade the remaining 5 or 6 percent or so of undecided voters or as the pollster.com analysts suggest try to change the minds of voters that have already committed to their candidate of choice.
Polls show there are some democrats out there voting Mccain, let’s get them back in the fold, some independents leaning towards Obama/Biden still need some encouragement, some value voters need reassuring. Electoral vote compass USA might be just the thing for them.
So with a little time left, we can still help undecided voters with their choice. You can of course also visit this website to see how you could be involved in Team Obama’s effort to bring change to Washington and bring Joe Biden and Obama to the White House. http://my.barackobama.com/... GOTV, don't leave nothing on the road!
And don’t be fooled by promising polls McCain’s one exceptional political talent is his talent to survive and the Republican National committee is throwing a lot of garbage out there. Palin seems to have survived the vice presidential debates and even Troopergate. So please donate Today(you’ll be paying a lot more for healthcare, gas, the bailout, war, etc if McCain gets elected; so think of it as an investment for the hard financial times to come or see it as a bargain, a simple pocket money issue if you like. https://donate.barackobama.com/...
If your talking to friends that are still unsure on their choice for President. Than the easiest way to make up your mind is to visit The Electoral Compass Website.
In 1625 the Dutch gave you New York, In 2008 the Dutch present you this: Electoral compass USA and Vote Match USA 2008.
I live in the Netherlands, and since a couple of years during election season, Dutch voters collectively turn to the internet to election advice websites and "vote matching applications" that can help them decide on their choice for political party and future Prime Minister. In the Netherlands almost 35% of the voters use one of several of these internet surveys to help them make an informed choice. Because we don't have a two party system in the Netherlands, and our democratic process is arranged differently we don't actually have to wait for four years to change our government. So we get to use these fun internet gadgets every time we're fed up with the job our politicians are doing, or whenever they screw up so bad the government has to resign because of lack of public support.So that’s basically every few years, sometimes even more often. In 2002 we had ‘early elections" after the newly formed government broke down after just 86 days in office. The most popular and most used web tool for voters to help them decide who they’re voting for are so called ‘ vote advice websites’ such as ‘Electoral Vote Compass’ and ’Votematch’. Both websites have released USA 2008 election versions of their smart web applications.
This ‘08 election the issues are as important as ever, but the Electoral Vote Compass also feautures a so called’ temperament tool’to measure how you feel about the candidates on a personal level and who you trust more to actually handle the issues.These websites help you make a informed choice.
Voting advice has come a long way since the early paper print editions started appearing. Nowadays these tool s don't actually tell you how to vote, but they tell you how you would match with the presidential candidates based on your answers and preferences. Developed by independent organizations, with the input of political scientist and journalists the Dutch voters have come to rely on these websites to help them decide who to vote for. Now these political matching tools are available for the US elections as well. For this year’s 08 election there are these two that I recommend: Votematch USA and Electoral Compass USA.
Votematch USA.
Vote Match is a easy to use short online quiz/ survey that any voter that knows how to use the computer can use to match his or her political views with the views of the election candidates.
By answering a couple of questions your preferences get matched against the candidates policy proposals. It only takes a couple of minutes of your time.
"Votematch quizzes you on 25 policy proposals put forth by McCain and Obama. And shows you where your opinion matches McCain’s or Obama’s. The result is the percentage of agreement with either candidate and you can even get detailed results that focus on the issues that matter to you most personally."
"VoteMatch compares your political preferences with questions and statements taken from election documents of political parties contesting the elections. The candidates’ statements are formulated based on their official campaign sites, from quotes taken from interviews and debates to analyses made by authoritative commentators. Votematch is developed by a independent dutch organization."
Results": On the results screen, you will see the candidate whose views most reflect your own. You can compare yourself to both candidates and click to see the scores on the individual issues. You can also check how other Vote Match users made out and which issues are extra important in determining the results.
Electoral compass USA:
The Wallstreet Journal features The electoral compass USA 2008 version on its website, and uses some of the results for articles on this years presidential election. Close to 3 millions American voters have already taken the test and used the Electoral Compass.
"A new Web tool -- the Electoral Compass USA -- allows users to identify where they stand in the "political landscape" and which candidates are closest to them.
Here's how it works: Users answer 36 questions - on anything from gun control to Iran, to Medicare - before finding their place in the political landscape."
The Compass was developed by political scientists at the faculty of political science of the Free University in Amsterdam. Its scientists developed a similar compass for recent Dutch and Belgian parliamentary elections, drawing millions of responses from voters."
You can get a ‘personal political profile’ by answering 36 simple questions. You get to score policy proposals as proposed by the two candidates Obama and Mccain, on a scale that goes from completely agree, to tend to agree, to agree, neutral, tend to disagree, disagree, completely disagree, and no opinion. You are also asked to evaluate the personal characteristics of Obama and Mccain. Who is the strongest leader, who is the most trustworthy and most competent to lead the nation?
Users of Electoral Compass USA are positioned among the candidates along two relevant political dimensions: ‘Economic Left – Economic Right’ and ‘Social Progressive – Social Conservative’.
The Electoral Vote is probably the better of the two websites; because it allows for a more accurate appraisal of the candidates and your answers.
My personal favorite is the online questionnaire developed at the faculty of political science of the University of Amsterdam in cooperation with One of Holland’s most respected major newspapers 'The Volkskrant' and featured in the Wallstreet Journal.
So unlike Vote match, in the Election compass USA you also get to score the candidates Obama and Mccain on who you trust more as a person. Both surveys allow you to also weigh the issues most important to you personally, so that if you’re a voter with the environment on your mind, or a social conservative primarily concerned about family values and healthcare, a libertarian caring about education and the economy, the issues most important to you get extra weight in the end results.
Next best thing to Polls: Watch out Nate Silver!
Just like Polling these election web tools have become an influential factor in informing people and getting them involved and turning out voters to the voting booth. It's the starting point for many discussions at work, in colleges and high schools, in front of public schools where people pick up their kids, parents and partners discuss how they scored on the test, and if the test results are likely to influence their personal choice. It’s interesting to listen or read the comments that people make after having taken the test, so I would invite everyone here on DKOS to take the test now and use the comments section below to share their thoughts on the usefulness of these web tools, and to share personal reactions on your own results!
Independent Voteadvice!
Some of you might be shocked about the results; maybe you’re far more conservative than you like to admit to yourselves and others, maybe you agree more with Obama on the issues than you might have thought being a lifelong republican. Many people of course find confirmation of their political leaning at the moment and taking the test encourages people to actually go and vote for their preferred candidate. So if you know somebody that hasn´t yet made up their mind on either candidate this is the link you should send them: http://www.electoralcompass.com or
http://www.votematchusa.org/
Surveys in the Netherlands and Germany found that 80% found it to be a trustworthy tool.
These internet tools have evolved over the years, from early print editions in the eighties to the more sophisticated and user-friendly interfaces you see now. They have become the most insightful and fun internet gadgets around.
These types of political matching tools are already being used in Germany, France, Bulgaria and Swiss elections and it was very successful during this years 2008 London mayoral elections in the United Kingdom. And its being introduced in a couple of other European countries as well. Millions and millions people use these kind of websites to get better informed about the candidates and their proposals. More importantly Vote match USA, a spinoff of a Dutch initiative by the independent institute of public and politics, surveys claims it spiked turnout of swingvoters 10 to 15%.
These kind of tools are being used by increasing numbers of internet users all over the globe. These web-based '’political profiling’ sites , election advice' or 'political matching tools" are becoming an increasingly important factor in deciding elections and narrowing the number of undecided’s and turning out voters! Next to Polls, these internet tools are becoming the most influential factor in helping people how to decide how to vote in the run up to election day.